National Running Day Reminds Us All To Get Off The Couch. Thanks, Running Day!

Today's #RunningDay, the national celebration of runners and running (and a subtle jab at all those too lazy to do it). If you're one of those who's been watching from the sidelines, then it's time to proactively synergize your core competencies toward an optimized fitness paradigm! Or something.

These are the many (many!) benefits of being a runner.

The Logic Of Becoming A Runner

A lot of people crap on running. They say it makes you weak. It gives you a protruding belly. It’s boring. It makes you scrawny. It sucks.

Those people are pansies. They’re telling you (and themselves) what they want to hear. They hate the idea of running, so they perpetuate myths to make it seem like a bad idea. Allow me to quote Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate in physics: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.”

If you’re competitive in power sports, like basketball, or engage in strongman competitions, lots of long distance running can decrease optimal performance. Other than that, it’s one of the best things you can do for physical fitness, building endurance, burning fat, saving time and having fun.

Born to run

Humans are born to run. Have you ever heard of persistence hunting? Our ancient ancestors did it to survive. Every critter on the African savanna could outrun us over short distances, so we’d just keep chasing them until they ran out of gas, then walk up to some poor, totally exhausted impala we’d been chasing for several miles and then stab him into steaks.

No Gym Required

If it’s cold and snowy and you want to work out, you need to start the car, sweep it off, drive through awful conditions, find a parking spot, find a locker, get changed… And then do it all over again to come home.

You Can Make Time

If all you have to do is step out your front door, it saves a lot of time from having to travel to a gym. Beyond that, running is a sport that makes it “easy” to get a bigger bang for your buck. In other words, the harder you train, the more calories you burn per mile. If you’ve got only 20 minutes, you can go out and push right to the wall the entire time and get one helluva workout that is the equivalent of 40 minutes of slower running.